KTSM-FM (99.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "Sunny 99.9") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. It airs an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on North Mesa Street (

Texas State Highway 20 State Highway 20 (SH 20) is a highway maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that runs from New Mexico State Road 460 at the state line between Texas and New Mexico at Anthony in El Paso County to Interstate 10 at ...

) in West Central El Paso. Evenings feature the syndicated Delilah call-in and request show. On Sunday mornings, Dave Koz hosts a smooth jazz show. The rest of the schedule features local DJs. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is located off Scenic Drive in El Paso, in the Franklin Mountains, at one of the highest sites in the state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The signal covers parts of Texas,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. KTSM-FM has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 87,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s (100,000 with beam tilt). The station broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

hybrid format. Its HD2 subchannel airs an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format known as "The Beatles and Friends."

History

On June 18, 1962, KTSM-FM first signed on. It was the FM counterpart to

AM 1380 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1380 kHz: 1380 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency, on which Class B and Class D stations broadcast. Argentina * LRI231 in Necochea, Buenos Aires Canada * CKPC in Brantford, Ontario ...

KTSM, owned by the Tri-State Broadcasting Company, along with channel 9 on the television side. Tri-State referred to the states it covered, Texas, New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. From the start, KTSM-FM was programmed separately from the AM station's middle of the road format. KTSM-FM aired beautiful music, fifteen minute sweeps of instrumental

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular songs with minimal talk and news. Over time, some vocals were added to the

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

. At first it was a few per hour. But as the station saw its audience's age increase, it made a move to give the station a younger feel by including some softer vocal songs from the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

. By 1990, the station had eliminated the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

instrumentals, completing its evolution to

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

music. Some hours, it made use of the Transtar Radio Networks' "Format 41," a satellite-delivered soft AC service. In 1998,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

-based

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

bought KTSM-AM-FM as well as

AM 690 The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 690 kHz: 690 AM is a Canadian and Mexican clear-channel frequency. CKGM Montreal and XEWW Tijuana share Class A status of 690 kHz. In Argentina * LRA4 in Salta, Salta. * L ...

KHEY and 96.3

KHEY-FM KHEY-FM (96.3 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in El Paso, Texas. It airs a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station carries the radio syndication, syndicated ''Bobby Bones Show'' on M ...

.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2002-2003 page D-437
/ref> Clear Channel had already acquired 102.1 KPRR in 1996. Under Clear Channel management, KTSM-FM increased the tempo of its

, transitioning to a mainstream AC sound. In 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc.

References

External links

KTSM-FM official website
{{IHeartMedia TSM-FM Radio stations established in 1962 1962 establishments in Texas IHeartMedia radio stations Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States